St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-07-30

with shelter of four uprights and
roof of leaves President Cleveland did
not 90 as far from his hotel to Kill his
first deer last summer as he rad to 90 on
the last day Of the last Congress when lie
walked from the White House to the
Capitol. There is the charm and it is
one that you never Get rid Of Whether
you are at busy place or at a solitary
house you are forever confronted with a
blending Of the widest kinds Of outdoor
life and Of the comfort and security of
hotel accommodations.
For those who would rather be spared
the familiar and to them, commonplace
attractions of such hotels as | have de-
scrbed, there are plenty of places dis
tinguished by primitive architecture,
plain woodland fare, honest beds in cOun-
try bedrooms, and no chance to lead
any kind of life except that of hunter,
fisher or sleepy idler in the cool dim
lit forest or on the tranquil surface of
lonesome lake ran across one on Lake
Meachem-a long, low, struggling, log
built hotel facing the sandy beach of
lake that looked like huge sheet Of pol
ished steel framed in green plush. The
anst kept no register, but asked your
home and remembered it, at least until
he had to ask it again. For public use
there was an office where the men
smoked and the landlord kept a
workbench; there was veranda
where the Young people walked
up and down in the evening until their
parents called them in, and there was
parlor for the adult ladies who spent the
days quivering with excitement lest their
sons and husbands, off in the woods with
their guns, should shoot themselves or
each other There was little boat
house, a pack of hunting dogs and a
gathering of idle guides, but for miles
around all else that was to be found was
the solitude, silence and mysterious
beauty of the woods. Here deer were so
plenty just then tthe deer grounds are
forever shifting) that boys were enabled
to butcher them in brutal fashion, and
the ladies out walking on the road more
than once saw the pretty creatures dash
across a clear field close to the house or
dart over the wagon tracks ahead of
them. The women accompanied the
men at trout fishing and | never hope to
see a prettier picture than | witnessed as
| drove away from the place and came
suddenly on brook cleaying the forest
amid burst of sunlight and found a
bevy of ladies spreading luncheon on
a rude little bridge above which the men
were deity tickling the surface of the
gurgling stream with theil long, light
lines and flies. | realized then, as | saw
the pretty women, their hats decked with
wild flowers and their hands busy with
appetizing viands from the baskets and
glanced at the men, high-booted in the
water, working the pHant rods above
their heads, that painters will never ex-
haust the field of pictures as long as the
world goes round.
There are many interesting show places
in the "North Woods" as the people of
New York State call this forest Among
the natural wonders are some very tall
mountains the list of which is headed
by Mount Marcy and Old White Face.
Then there are the Wilmington Notch
and Au Sable Chasm, two wildly rugged
and picturesque points where the Au-
sable river squeezes its troubled way
between dizzy cliffs or apparently right
through mountain Of solid rock Among
the attractions added by the hand of man
is the Adirondack log house. a pretty
and centrally situated four-storv, log
framed hotel, as rustic outside as